"Alright, let's see here."
I 'watched' the coding of the System core, continuously updating and refining it to work exactly what I wanted it to, which was much harder than it would seem.
As a metaphysical system that worked by siphoning energy from the Dimensional Gap, refining it through a physical being's soul, and then turning it into Holy Energy and Light through the power of Faith, it is a masterpiece of magic that defies comprehension.
Truthfully, I doubt I would have figured it all out by myself unless I was given at least a century to study it day and night, and even then, I probably would not be able to do whatever I want with it like I am able to do right now.
Thankfully, the Construct of God had imparted all the relevant knowledge to me before fading.
Apparently, he had been waiting all this time for any of his children to try and access the core of the system and try to fix the problems it was experiencing, so he was long since prepared to hand over the full knowledge and access of the system when any of the higher-ranked angels walked into this place.
Unfortunately, Michael only ever approached the exterior of the Core, never daring to access it fully because of some kind of circumstance that he did not want to speak about.
Anyways, with the knowledge that I now had, it was child's play to modify the system's settings, as well as upgrading it further with the items from YGGDRASIL that I had with me.
Like modifying its energy source to draw power not only from the Dimensional Gap, but also from the Caloric Stone that I had. Something that I got through sheer accident when I piled up all of my Prismatic Ores in one place and they spontaneously turned into a Caloric Stone back in the Game.
In the Game, the Caloric Stones allowed the user to either directly request high rank or rare materials from the Developers or use them as is in crafting items.
However, in this world, the former function is no longer available. I tried to see if I could use it like I did with Ouroboros and see if it would grant my wishes like that World Item, or even my Shooting Star rings, but nothing happened. So, I decided to use it to augment the Heavenly System.
After augmenting the system and giving it a significant and permanent boost, I got to work and started fixing all the bugs in the system.
First, the reincarnation system used by the Devils. That had to go. Or, at least, stop being used to convert Sacred Gear wielders into devils.
To that end, I modified the System and incorporated the concepts of Karma and Experience from YGGDRASIL into the Sacred Gear system after resetting them all to their base level just to be safe.
The next step was to patch out the Balance Breakers and other such unstable mutations in the Sacred Gears. Those types of uncontrolled boosts and 'upgrades' are disasters waiting to happen, so they must be locked away until the wielder is ready to handle that power, which would also give the Sacred Gears the time needed to evolve properly and adapt to the gradual increase in power.
Then there was the issue of Sacred Gear wielders being targeted by the other races and being killed to keep humanity weak and easy prey. To solve that, I incorporated the retaliation system that protects the sacred gear wielders whose karma is at 0 or higher.
As for those whose karma is in the negatives? They would not receive such a benefit from the system.
This kind of Karmic system will also now serve as the framework for the Church's recruitment and function.
I know that this is not a perfect way to assess people because they can make mistakes, but learn from them and become better.
Unfortunately, given the way that the Heavens are right now, I cannot afford that kind of leniency. At least right now.
I will patch that out in the future according the the teachings that the rest of the angels know about forgiveness and tolerance (depending on if said person deserved it in the first place), but for now, Karma points will determine the fate of those who wish to gain protection through the Heavenly System.
With the human side of things taken care of, I moved on to dealing with the issues with the Angels.
I won't lie, ever since I learned the truth of my connection to Heaven and the history that I had in this world before regaining my memories of old and losing my memories from this life, I have been having a hard time facing my brothers and sisters.
Every time I see the bright eyes and smiling faces of Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael, and everyone else, I cannot help but feel ashamed for how I behaved with them ever since waking up.
I finally understand how hard it must have been for them to be rejected by the very brother that they looked up to for their entire life, only to find him a stranger after he returned from the 'dead'.
Thankfully, it would seem that they did not take my actions to heart, because they easily forgave me after I apologized to them for my words and actions.
And yet, I cannot help but feel awful on the inside.
After that heart-to-heart I had with the angels and explained to them my circumstances (excluding the part about my human past, since I don't think that life is relevant anymore), which was followed by a rather embarrassing, yet heartwarming group hug, I got to work on fixing the issues that God never got around to doing in the first place.
First thing I fixed was the issue where an Angel would fall if there was an increase of negative feelings in them past a certain threshold, or when they were forced to fall through dishonorable actions on their enemies' part.
After all, it is not the fault of an Angel if he or she loses their purity after their enemy forces themselves upon them. (A tactic that the devils were quite fond of using, either through force or through seduction, which made my disgust for them rise to new levels, which I thought impossible after I learned what happened in the prisons beneath Lucifaad) or by breaking their minds and faith through various methods.
Even the act of reproducing was an act of great difficulty for the angels under the messy work of the system. The very fact that any Angel or half-angel that was born this way in the past was named a 'Miracle Child' is proof enough of how hard it was to have children this way.
So that was another issue I fixed up as well.
Then came the biggest task that I undertook to this day.
Resurrecting all the angels whose soul fragments were still stored in the mausoleum in the Sixth Heaven.
It was not easy.
I had to expend three wishes, consuming one of my Shooting Star rings completely, to restore the soul fragments to full souls so that I could use my Resurrection magic.
Thankfully, the resurrection itself was not that hard, thanks to the Heavenly System enduring the brunt of the energy requirement to power my spell.
And then, after the resurrection, I did not even get the chance to breathe properly before I had to go back to work and help Michael reorganize everything.
Helping the reborn Angels to resume their duties, helping Gabriel choose people to work under her in the newly established diplomatic corps, helping Uriel gather all the talented soldiers and fighters of our forces to form proper armies, and helping Raphael find accomplished healers to help him with manning the infirmaries in the Fifth Heaven.
It was a really hectic week for me, where it was work after work for me, which made me envy Michael even more since he had become much more carefree ever since I returned from the Seventh Heaven.
The perpetual hunch on his shoulders was gone, and so was the taint of twisted divinity in his wings. His fragile smile that hid the pain beneath was also gone, and he now smiled without any worries.
It was as if some kind of huge burden had been lifted from him, and he finally gained freedom, which might not be too far from the truth.
'He is probably the only Angel right now who is free of any duties. Maybe I should push the responsibility of managing the Church on him?'
Shaking my head to get rid of those thoughts, I concentrated back on the task at hand.
It really has been a busy few days, but I cannot say that I hate it.
In my old life, I always yearned for a connection. A family of my own. A home that brought warmth to my heart. The warmth of loving someone, and having someone love me, in a familial way, or even in a romantic way.
But I also knew that this kind of connection would be fragile and could very easily hurt my heart beyond repair. That having such hope in a world like mine was asking to get hurt.
That is why I was so resistant to the idea that I am Arael when the angels first approached me.
I was afraid. Afraid that if I went along with their arguments, and if I were to believe the frankly obvious proof they gave me, the slight possibility that they could be wrong would take away this small desire of mine, which would shatter my heart beyond repair.
I was afraid that this small hope that had undeniably bloomed in my heart when I heard them call me 'brother' would once again be cruelly taken from me by the world.
That is why I was resistant to the very end. Because I did not want to be hurt.
But now, all those worries and fears have been tossed aside.
Now, I have already accepted my identity as Arael.
It is just a shame that I don't remember anything from that time. But what God's Construct said still made sense.
So what if I don't have the memories that I once shared with them? It just means that I can make new ones to replace those that were lost.
I watched through the System's connection as Michael lazed about in his home, happily reading some kind of book. Gabriel laughed happily in the Garden of Eden with many of the newly resurrected angels about something. Uriel trained with many of the Gatekeepers of the First Heaven, while my Cherubim Gatekeepers introduced Empyrean as my 'subordinate' to the other angels. And Raphael was busy in the infirmary, looking over the data of the resurrected angels to see if there was anything wrong with them.
The situation with Empyrean was a bit complicated.
Unlike my Cherubim Gatekeepers that I summoned in a weakened form while I was Arael, I think I was far too damaged to summon the Seraph Empyrean at that time, so he was the only odd one out among all of my summons who was unknown to my new kin.
Thankfully, it would seem that the very fact that he is my subordinate is enough for the others to accept him into their ranks, which seems to have pleased Empyrean to a certain extent, given his body language.
Shaking my head, I turned back to the system to look down at the mortal world.
"Hm. Maybe I really should call on Michael to take charge of the angelic council down on Earth."
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In the Sixth Heaven, where the Four Archangels (now known as Five Archangels) have their homes, Michael, the Prince of Heavens, the general of its armies, was lazily lying on his bed, reading a manga about humans killing gods and gaining their authorities through some kind of convoluted plot reason.
His understanding of how gods worked and how foolish it would be for a human to challenge a god gave him an amusing point of view while reading the manga.
However, suddenly, he felt a chill go down his spine, which made him sit up as his mind went alert. His instincts honed over a thousand years of assuming leadership, warning him of incoming work directed towards him.
Unfortunately for him, before he could teleport out of the Sixth Heaven, a single line from his eldest brother rang out in his mind, pushing him to the depths of despair.
"Looks like you have a lot of free time, Michael. Come to the Core, I have work for you."
Michael despaired the moment he heard the word 'work' and took to protesting then and there.
"Brother! You cannot force work onto me like this! I just got my freedom back-"
"None of that. You can relax in the mortal world-"
"NO! YOU WON'T CATCH ME ALIVE-"
"I will send Gabriel after you."
"Hax!! I call Hax!!"
"....You are being influenced by human literature. No more reading or watching human fiction for the next few months."
The former leader of Heaven continued bickering as he dragged himself towards the Seventh Heaven.
However, internally, he felt glad to have this kind of familiar conversation and bickering with his brother, whom he once thought dead.
With that emotion kept to himself, Michael proceeded to the Seventh Heaven.
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